A joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation travelled to Aden on Thursday to discuss demands for a pullout of UAE-backed southern separatists from positions they captured in Yemen's interim capital, government and separatist sources said.

Yemen's southern separatists vowed on Wednesday to keep control over Aden, warning the only way out of the impasse that has fractured a Saudi-led military alliance was for Islamists and northerners to be removed from positions of power in the south.

The United Arab Emirates on Monday downplayed a rift with ally Saudi Arabia over Yemen after separatists it backs took control of Aden that was the base of the Saudi-backed government.

Houthi forces in Yemen launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid air base as well as the Abha and Najran civilian airports, the Houthis' military spokesman said on Monday.

Iran is prepared for dialogue if Saudi Arabia is also ready, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

A United Arab Emirates' military drawdown in Yemen is building momentum for a nationwide truce this year, bolstering efforts by the Saudi-led coalition it is part of to end a war that has tarnished the image of U.S.-allied Gulf states.

A Qatari national arrested in Yemen on suspicions of working with the Iran-aligned Houthis has been released after more than a year in detention in Saudi Arabia, Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) said.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen intercepted and downed three drones launched by the Houthi movement towards the southwestern Saudi cities of Jizan and Abha, state TV reported on Tuesday.

Yemen's warring parties have agreed new measures to enforce a ceasefire and facilitate a troop pullback from the flashpoint port of Hodeidah, the United Nations said on Monday.

The Saudi-led military coalition spokesman said late on Monday that the coalition had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen's Houthi group at civil targets in the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The United Arab Emirates had been planning its recent troop drawdown in Yemen for over a year and coordinated its move with key ally Saudi Arabia, a senior Emirati official said on Monday.

Saudi-led military coalition said on Thursday it had intercepted drones launched by Yemen's Houthi group that was targeting Jizan airport, a statement on Saudi state media said.

A drone attack by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia early on Tuesday left nine people injured, a Saudi-led coalition statement said.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis struck a power station in Saudi Arabia's al-Shuqaiq city, in the southern province of Jizan, with a cruise missile, their Al Masirah TV said on Wednesday, but there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities.

Yemen's Houthi movement and the United Nations have agreed on a mechanism to inspect ships docking at Hodeidah following the group's withdrawal from three Red Sea ports under a U.N.-sponsored deal, a Houthi official and a U.N. source said.

United Nations food chief David Beasley warned on Monday that a phased-suspension of food assistance in Yemen was likely to begin later this week over a diversion of aid and lack of independence in Houthi-controlled areas.

A U.N. mission monitoring a peace deal between warring parties in Yemen's Hodeidah region said on Wednesday it had not detected any Houthi military forces in three key ports since the group withdrew a month ago.

The Saudi-led military coalition vowed to respond firmly to a missile attack by Yemeni Houthi forces on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that wounded 26 people.

U.S. Republican members of Congress pushed back on Wednesday against President Donald Trump's plan to sell $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, saying it was "unfortunate" the administration used an emergency declaration to avoid Congressional review.

Saudi Arabia's air defence forces intercepted two drones launched by Yemen's Houthis and targeting the city of Khamis Mushait, a Saudi led coalition spokesman said in statement released by Saudi Press Agency early on Tuesday.